If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Judge Dredd 2012

So i got around to watching the Dredd movie and as an American, one with zero exposure to the Judge Dredd character, i was wondering what you UK chaps thought of it. I understand that Dredd is a rather big property in the UK, but honestly here he's a bit like TinTin in that he doesn't exist in the major pop consciousness aside from references found a la internet forums and geek social gatherings. I'm sure there's gotta be someone in the RPS community with a love for the series so i was interested in how you felt it stacked up.

Not seen the movie as it didn't get a release in Japan, but Dredd isn't really huge in the UK. It's true that he's one of the few British comic icons, but most non-comic fans will be much more familiar with Superman, Spiderman, etc.. than Dredd.

My feeling is also that 2000AD (his comic) was a lot bigger in the 80s, but most younger people won't know it. May be wrong on that.

[edit] One more thing to note is that he hasn't really made the transition from the comics to any other media in the same way that many Marvel/DC characters have. Probably most people who know spiderman/batman/superman have never read the comics and know them from the TV shows/cartoons/movies etc.. but Dredd has never been on TV, and the two movies haven't been huge successes.

To my mind, the new movie, Dredd, was a lot better than the old Judge Dredd (with Sylvester Stallone). It's a lot lower-budget, and really kinda portrays a stand-alone strip rather than the earlier one's attempt to tackle one of the comic's big stories. It's also played a lot straighter - more like the comic's dark humour than the high camp of the Stallone vehicle.

Also, in the new one, Dredd keeps his helmet on the whole time. (In the comics, he's never shown with his helmet off - there's one part where he's undergoing emergency surgery, had his uniform cut off to get at injuries, and he's still got his lid on)

It was a great movie with actual decent use of 3D and slow motion, though I think in the long run that will harm it when watched at home. Karl Urban was great as Dredd and I'd love to see a second one, though considering how bad it did I won't hold my breath.

Dredd would be known by comic fans in the UK and Ireland and some people who have no interest in comics might recognize the name from the first movie, but he wouldn't be anywhere near some kind of British version of Superman, where everyone* in the US would know Superman. As said before, he doesn't have the exposure of the big superheros, much like all British comics to be quiet honest.

I certainly enjoyed the movie (the raid did a better job with the same concept) and would look forward to a sequel. I'd heard of the character and the 2000 AD comics but hadn't read them before the movie. Would love to read them now.

It's pretty good. I thought the action was a bit slow than I expected for this movie (I expected sonething like The Raid) but it's not bad either. I hope they release a sequel for this. Needs more dark humor, though. That made the comics real good.

Originally Posted by DaftPunk

It was such a crappy movie i turned it off after 30 minutes,thats why i think of it,crap.

Ya missed out on a lot, dude. The movie really starts when they got up a few levels in the building.

This was possibly the only version of the Big Meg that could really work on screen and stood any chance of reaching a wider audience. Watching the Stallone original, it's actually surprising how much of the crazy world of the comics reaches the screen. Unfortunately, none of the tone ever manages to - huge overblown drama, biblical allegories, romance and Stallone's terrible emoting ruins any sense that the city is more than a ludicrous set.

In Dredd, the sense that this is a city barely held together, rife with crime and desperately clinging to a semblance of order, becomes clear. In the movie, the Judges are still a totalitarian regime but one that is stretched even thinner than generally seen in the comics. The city (or at least, this sector) is influenced more by the problems seen in the contemporary MegaCities (can't believe that term is actually used in the real world!) world such as Dhaka or Mexico City. The second-hand, decrepit high technology riddled with rust in Dredd was a much better fit to the tone and the premise than the 90s shiny plastic aesthetic of the original movie.

And as for the plot and the actors; well, as a die-hard reader of 2000AD and a collector of Judge Dredd comics dating back a decade before my birth (albeit in the collected reprints) - they were spot on. Karl Urban was so angry. Mean. And to quote Joe Dredd himself in the lastest prog of 2000AD "Mean is what you need in the meg." Righteous anger kept barely in check by discipline, by the Law. And the delivery of that line was utterly perfect. He doesn't rush around bellowing it like a catch phrase for gruds sake, its a simple statement of fact. He is a judge and judges are the law. The only law left in the shattered world. Honestly, I was sold the second I heard that gravelly voice describing the millions of people huddled in the ruins of the old world, with the only thing holding them together being the men and women of the Hall of Justice.

It even got the dark humor of Joe Dredd himself, something I thought would be pretty hard. "Old stoneyface" does have a sense of humour, though its often lost amid the grim actions he has to take. That little sneer at the end, after MaMa falls all the way to the bottom, was perfect. The violence itself was also satisfyingly visceral, bloody and a little over the top - just the way it should be in 2000AD. But not too far OTT.

Anyway - my friend is getting the DVD tonight. I can't wait to watch it again. Which is the highest praise I could give any movie ever.

I thought the idea of the movie was good and overall the plot was fine. I guess for me what didn't work was the visualization of the City as a whole coupled with the narrative statements regarding the size of it. There needed to be more a vertical denseness to the city in the larger shots as portrayed in the film. Otherwise ok, though nothing exceptional.

Unfortunately I don't think the new movie was successful enough to provide what I really hope for: a movie based on The Simping Detective

Dirty Frank would do anything to be on the big screen. But dirty frank knows that joe dredd's movie didnt do well enough. He knows that you are speaking about Jack Point but simping should really be left to Wally Squad's most senior (and dirtiest, and frankiest) judge.

It was alright, but I admit I got a bit bored of the setting. I was actually hoping when they made it onto the rooftop that they would then venture into the city, it would have been interesting, but instead they went back in (I know, it was more relevant to the plot!)

It was alright, but I admit I got a bit bored of the setting. I was actually hoping when they made it onto the rooftop that they would then venture into the city, it would have been interesting, but instead they went back in (I know, it was more relevant to the plot!)

And more achievable in the budget.

I had heard good things about this, but was put off by a plot that sounded like a combination of the excellent The Raid and this Brasseye sketch.

Judge Dredd assaults a tower block full of hostiles in pursuit of criminals every other week. It's a pretty faithful adaptation of the source material, just unfortunate that the timing worked out near the Raid's release - as now everyone and his dog keeps saying "It just looks like a Raid rip-off".